As multiple people have asked me for this, I thought it might be easiest to post it here. What follows is the segment from the sermon this last Sunday that considers how each part of our day requires enslaving your body to a greater ambition than self-interest.
What is the ambition of your
day?Of the many events that happen in your daily life, how often
do you listen to your body?Let’s sketch out the opportunities of a day…
Morning
- will you rise early to read your Bible or sleep in for
another 15-30 minutes?- will you speak with joy or weariness to your family?
- will you eat all that you want or all that you need to for
breakfast?- will you make demands or speak encouragement your spouse?
- will you drive in a way that pleases the Lord or will you
put yourself & your needs first?- will you respond to your coworker’s attitude with patience
or sarcasm?- will you submit to your
boss’ critique as to the Lord or comfort yourself with thoughts of their
incompetence?- will you listen to your
children with patience or respond with exasperation?Midday
- will you discipline your
children consistently or let their sins go unattended because you’re weary?- will you respond to the
long wait at lunch with visible frustration or will you give grace to the fast
food worker?- will you speak to the guy
with the sign or walk by without making eye contact?- will you take some me-time
while the kids nap or will you prepare for their afternoon so that it goes
well?- will you just stand there
& watch your kids play at the park, or will you try & talk about Christ
with one of the other neighborhood moms?- will you work hard after lunch or will you do a little
personal web surfing on company time?- will you spend some of your commute home praying or
listening to sports radio?Evening
- will you come home and flip the tv on, or will you
cheerfully engage with your spouse & kids?- will your dinner
conversation center around God’s grace in your life or will it be fixated on
complaints about the day’s events?- will you use the remote
control discerningly or will you allow your tv/computer to display things for
which Christ had to die?- will you blame your child’s
offensive behavior on sugar or lack of sleep or do you speak to them about
God’s desires for their life and their need for obedience?- will you deal patiently and
kindly as your kids fight their bedtime or will you use terror & fear to
get them to stay in bed?- will you listen patiently
while your spouse talks through their day, or will you fall asleep while the
other is still talking?We must have a
greater aim than our own pleasure & glory.Our aim is to show off Christ and tell others about Him.